The flesh profits nothing:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
We hear about walking in the spirit, about being heavenly minded
Keeping our eyes on Jesus
Not serving the flesh
All of that is good and right
Maybe somewhat cliché
because we have heard sayings like that so many times
To truly grasp how the Lord wants us to think,
we have to go deeper
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him,
Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God:
for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:
so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
How can these things be? John 3:1-9
He wanted to know more and inquired further of the Lord
which can be found in the next few verses
Nicodemus had a partial meaning of the word,
He saw part of it, but needed further explanation from the Lord
He pressed in, wanted to know more, wanted to get it
He asked about being Born Again
He found a treasure
He found a biblical truth that very few find
He clung to it until He understood it
He wouldn’t let go until Jesus explained it to him so he understood it
We should do the same with revelations in the word that we are given
In the 70s there was a popular slogan: I found it
They made trinkets and shirts and stickers and things with this slogan
The “it” was Jesus, being born again,
the gospel, the truth, salvation, Christianity
We know from the Parable of the Sower,
not all who find Jesus will remain with Him
To take ahold of a treasure He shows you, even if just a sparkle
and value it and seek for the meaning of it
and spend time with Him in His word and in prayer to see more of it
Pursue Jesus for the explanation
This will help you greatly in your walk with Him
I was just reading in John chapter 6
Jesus had told His disciples that He was the bread of life
and that his body was meat and drink
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me,
and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father:
so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
This is that bread which came down from heaven:
not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead:
he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. John 6:53-58
I chose to use this passage as an example
because this is what made many disciples turn away
They did not make the effort to understand
and tried to use their own mind to understand the mysteries of God
That won’t work, seeking Jesus for understanding is where it’s at
Listening for His wisdom, which may not come instantaneously
Trusting that His ways are higher
Many of the disciples following Jesus could not handle that
The 12 were left
Catholics believe that communion is converted to His body and blood
Christians are taught that it is symbolical
This is an important subject that we should seek to understand,
that we should cling to Jesus until we get an answer,
until we truly grasp its meaning and importance
We don’t want to just take communion as an act of faith
without realizing its importance
We should truly give the act of communion the respect
and admonition it deserves
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven;
but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world.
John 6:32-33
The mysteries of God are worth exploring,
for when you truly understand them, they are life,
not just an act of flesh, which profiteth nothing.